The final blog in my series summarizes the past blogs I have written which all had the common purpose – recruiting and hiring top-quality employees.

In my previous posts, I’ve discussed how any company, whether big or small, must always take the necessary steps to try and ensure that they are hiring the best employee for the position needed. There are numerous ways to go about this process, but I will recap on the crucial tasks that should be completed in the hiring stages for an employee in this post.

Develop accurate job descriptions.In order for a job description to be effective, it should reflect careful thought as to the roles the individual will fill, the skill sets they’ll need, the personality attributes that are important to completing the tasks, and any relevant experience that would differentiate one applicant from another.

Compile a “success profile.”For key positions that are critical to your business, it is important to develop a profile of the ideal employee. Identifying skills and attributes that a candidate needs to succeed in that position will help match candidates against a specific profile. For more, refer to my previous post, Developing Accurate Job Descriptions and Success Profiles.

Draft the ad, describing the position and the key qualified required. Including the key qualifications required will help limit the number of unqualified applicants you receive.

Review the resumes you receive and identify your best candidates. When receiving resumes it is important that you know what you are looking for in terms of experience, education and skills to help weed through the resumes quickly and identify potential candidates. For more, refer to my previous post, Reviewing Resumes and Identifying the Best Candidates.

Select the candidate and run a background check on the individual. After matching the best applicant to the profiled job description it is time to make your selection. At this time it is also encouraged that a background check is done to uncover any potential problems not revealed by previous testing and interviews.

Make your offer to the candidate. Gathering information about the individual during the interview will provide an idea as to what starting compensation should be offered and the proper training this individual will need.

After reviewing these suggestions, I hope you are better prepared to recruit and hire the top-quality employees you need to successfully run and operate your business. Finding the right employees can be a challenge, but doing so will undoubtedly benefit the company in the long run. I would like to thank the Kansas Small Business Development Center and the Management Development Center at Fort Hays State University for the opportunity to guest blog about HR related topics that will further my knowledge on the subject as I prepare to graduate and begin my career.

From the Kansas SBDC

Saul, we’d like to thank you as well. We appreciate your contribution and know that this insightful series you authored and published on our website will help many small businesses in Kansas and beyond. We look forward to watching you develop in your HR career and hope to work with you again in the near future.

About our Author

Saul Sanchez is a Human Resources undergraduate student studying at Fort Hays State University. He blends his classroom education with real world learning working with FHSU’s Management Development Center (MDC) as a student intern. He takes his learning one step further by guest blogging about small business HR issues via a co-operative learning opportunity developed between the FHSU MDC and the Kansas SBDC.

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Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and partially funded by the state of Kansas. The Kansas SBDC statewide host is Fort Hays State University.

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